


A Christmas Gallagher

by LadyEkaterina



Series: Gallavich Week 2019 [7]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Christmas, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gallavich Week, Happy Ending, M/M, based on another story, festive, gw2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-11 20:25:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19117087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyEkaterina/pseuds/LadyEkaterina
Summary: Gallavich Week 2019 Day 7 - Seasons & HolidaysThis is a rewrite of a Christmas Gallagher, a tale based on a well known festive story....





	1. Stave I - Terry’s Ghost

Terry was dead to begin with. This was a fact There can be no doubt that Terry was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.

Terry was dead. He had finally met someone in prison who was both bigger than him and not in the least intimidated by him. He had been stabbed several times before bleeding out in his cell.  
His funeral had been attended by his five sons and a daughter, more to make sure he was actually dead and in the ground rather than for any familial feeling. A few of Terry’s cronies had raised a glass to him in the Alibi. But the Milkoviches had long since gone back to the house. The daughter, Mandy had stayed for as short a time as possible before disappearing back to her life far away from the Southside house. She only hugged one brother before she left, Mikhailo, known as Mickey. The boys started drinking and smoking weed as soon as they got in and several days later they were still there; semi comatose in the shambles of the living room.  
Some months went past. The Milkovich brothers returned to their usual trade of violence and drugs. The house, never in great condition, became even more of a hovel and Mickey withdrew further into himself. His two oldest brothers were chips off the old block and often beat and bullied Mickey for being gay, for being smaller, and sometimes just for being. Mickey soon realised he couldn’t bring Ian, the only person he’d ever loved other than his sister, into this horror show and he was no longer sure if Ian wanted him anyway. The two hadn't really talked since before Terry had died and now Mickey thought too much time had passed for anything to be said.

This story begins on Christmas Eve. Mickey was hiding from his brothers in his room. He had taken a stash of beer and a few joints with him and pushed a chair up against the door. He was drunk and stoned. Suddenly his phone beeped. 

_Hey. It's me. I hate to think of you there over Christmas. You wanna come over tomorrow for Christmas dinner?_  
He read it and threw his phone across the room. 10 mins later it beeped again  
_Mickey are you ok? Come over tomorrow. We’re having turkey!_  
In his drunken haze Mickey replied.  
_Fuck off!_  
Then he turned the phone off. 

Mickey lay on the bed and pinched the bridge of his nose to try and stop the tears but they trickled down his face nonetheless. He turned on his side and closed his eyes. 

He awoke to someone kicking the bed “Hey faggot” came the gravelly voice.  
“Fuck off Jamie. You’re starting to sound like.....”  
Mickey opened his eyes “Dad.”  
Terry was standing there. And not there. Mickey could see right through him.  
“Wow” he breathed, looking at the joint in the ashtray. “This is some good shit”  
The Terry apparition was bristling with unbridled disgust at having to talk to his "faggotty" son.  
“All right listen up queer. You don’t want me here and I sure as hell don’t want to be here. So just fuckin let me talk and then I can go.”  
“What the fuck do you want Terry?”  
“More about what I don't want. I don't want your queer ass here with me any time soon. And the way you're going, you're gonna be the next Milkovich out. So, I’m supposed to tell you you’re gonna be visited by 3 ghosts tonight and you should listen to what they have to say. Got that?”  
Mickey cursed his mind for hallucinating his dad of all people. Why couldn't it be Ian or Jean Claude Van Damme?  
Then Terry looked his son in the eye, something he’d never been able to do alive.  
“Prison is grim Mickey. It’s where your brothers are going, that’s guaranteed. You’re a faggot. And you won’t survive. So for fucks sake pay attention."  
Mickey shut his eyes. And when he opened them again Terry was gone.  
He sat up and took a long swig from his beer bottle before going back to sleep.


	2. Stave II - The ghost of Christmas (and other) pasts

Mickey became aware of a bright light in his eyes. He blinked and squinted in his bedroom. It was pitch dark outside but there was a young red headed girl there with a far too bright torch shining in his face.

“You’re awake! Finally” she said. She looked familiar, only younger than he remembered.  
“Debbie?” Asked Mickey. “Debbie Gallagher? What the fuck?”  
The girl smiled “I’m not really Debbie. I’m the first of the ghosts your dad mentioned. I just look like someone you remember from your past is all.”  
“Ahh I’m still hallucinating”  
“If it helps. But I’m gonna drive. Take my hand and we'll go”  
“No fucking way.”  
“Look you’re gonna do it sooner or later so just take my bloody hand” she held out her hand imperiously. Mickey huffed in frustration but he figured he might as well go along with this hallucination, for a while anyway. As soon as he touched her fingers the room began to blur and shimmer. Mickey looked around. It looked like his room, only there was a lot less stuff. He could hear a child crying and the familiar sound of a belt hitting flesh.  
“Come on.” sighed the Debbie-ghost.”Lets get this over with.”  
They walked into the living room and Mickey saw his father thrashing a small boy with his belt screaming at him to stop being a faggot and stop crying. A little girl was clutching his ankle begging him to stop. There was a couple of older boys watching and laughing.  
“Who is this child?” Asked the Debbie-ghost.  
Mickey wasn’t even looking. “It’s me. Mandy is trying to stop him. Over there are Joey and Jamie. I think Colin and Iggy were hiding.”  
“Can you remember why?”  
“Why I was being beaten? Yeah. I remember. It's Christmas Day and I had asked why Santa hadn’t come to our house. All the kids at school had talked about nothing else for weeks”  
The spirit turned on him, her eyes full of sympathy.  
“I think we should get out of here. Lets find another Christmas” she said and clicked her fingers.  
"They were all much the same" said Mickey.

The Debbie-ghost thought for a while.  
"Well it's not the norm in these cases but OK lets go look at some other times."  
They were back in Mickey’s room. A teenage Mickey was asleep on the bed. Suddenly a young freckle faced Ian Gallagher crept in armed with a tire iron.  
“What’s going on here?”  
Mickey smiled for the first time in weeks. “It’s the first time Ian and I.... “ he blushed “We should leave. Click those fingers.”  
The spirit looked at him for a moment before staring back at the bed.  
Mickey was on top of Ian with the tire iron in his hand. He paused and suddenly the mood changed. The two were taking their clothes off. Hurriedly.  
“Oh! Oh my!”  
Debbie actually blushed as she clicked her fingers.  
“I did say” Mickey was still smiling at the memory.  
They were in the Milkovich house. Mickey watched himself play guitar naked.  
He sighed. “I was so scared because I couldn’t help Ian. It was awful”  
“Nice ass though.”  
“Hey! You’re Ian’s sister! And a kid!”  
“I’m neither, really. Ooh look it’s me!”  
Mickey watched the exchange.  
“I went over to Ian’s after she left. I couldn’t not. He needed me. I needed him.”  
“Interesting.”  
“What?”  
“Oh nothing. Ok one more.” She clicked her fingers. They were outside the Gallagher house. Snow was falling heavily and the house was decorated with lights.  
“Come on” the Debbie-ghost beckoned to Mickey. “One final Christmas past. Recent past as it happens.”  
She walked through the door and Mickey followed.  
Ian was talking to Fiona and Lip in the living room while sharing a joint.  
“I don’t remember this.” said Mickey, confused.  
“You weren’t there. Shhhhh listen.”  
Mickey walked to behind the sofa to hear Ian talk about the Fairy Tail and how Mickey had gone to get him, had waited for him and looked after him. He told them about the night he had gone off to do a porn film. He told them about taking Mickey’s son. He told them about Monica collecting him from army jail and what that had done to Mickey. Lip and Fiona were silent for quite a while after Ian stopped talking. Then Fiona spoke.  
“He loves you.”  
“I think so, yeah.”  
"I never thought I'd say it", chimed in Lip. "But I feel sorry for Mickey!"  
Fiona looked at Ian.  
“He definitely loves you, to go through all that. Do you love him?”  
“Yeah, I do. I miss him."  
"Why don't you invite him for Christmas then - We can make room?"  
"Really? Thanks Fiona."  
Mickey was struggling not to cry as he listened to the Gallaghers talk.  
“Come on Mickey there’s more to do tonight”  
Mickey stared at her with tears openly running down his face. He hadn't even tried to hide them.  
“It's time to go.”.  
She looked at her watch. “Oh Mickey, that’s me done. Remember what you heard.” Mickey found his room swimming into focus and he was sat on his bed alone. The Debbie-ghost had gone.


	3. Stave III - The Ghost of Christmas Present.

Mickey rubbed his eyes and went to the bathroom. When he returned, Ian was sat on his bed.  
“What the fuck, Ian?”  
“Hi to you too. I’m not Ian. Not really. He’s at home helping to make Christmas. That’s what most people are doing. Apart from you lot. That’s what we’re going to look at. Christmas Day.”  
“Whatever.”  
The Ian-ghost laughed. He laughs like Ian thought Mickey, sadly. “I’m sure you know the drill by now. Take my hand.”  
Mickey took the spirit’s hand. It was cool and didn’t feel like Ian. Mickey was strangely comforted by this somehow.  
The room shimmered.  
They walked into the Milkovich living room “Wow you guys really know how to celebrate, don’t you?” Said the Ian-ghost sarcastically, looking at the undecorated house and 4 grown men passed out in the living room.  
“Terry didn’t like Christmas. Didn’t like any celebration. So we’ve never done anything”  
“Gosh.” Then the spirit brightened. ”Let’s go some place else.” He snapped his fingers. 

The shimmer took them to a glitzy apartment. There was a Christmas tree fully decorated in the corner with lovely shiny wrapped presents underneath. The buzzer went and Mickey saw his sister in a very pretty dress come out of a bedroom, lift up the intercom and let in her guests. When she opened her door a smart man in a suit walked in, dropped a kiss on Mandy’s lips and handed her a bag of gifts. She squealed appreciatively and put them under the tree. Moments later the intercom went again and 2 more couples entered the room. Mandy’s fellow was pouring champagne for everyone as Mandy checked on the food. 

“I can’t believe you’re cooking Mands.”  
Mandy laughed “Lucky for me Mrs Pence across the hall helped out.”  
“Yeah? Is she joining us!”  
“Nope. She’s gone to her daughters today. But I’ve invited her for New Year.“

Mickey turned to Ian “Why are we here?”  
“Your sister had the same upbringing as you. But she has chosen her own path. You could too.”  
Mickey sighed “My only path would be with Ian. And it’s not fair on him. I’m too much of a fuck up.”   
The ghost smiled “Don’t you think Ian should decide that? Talking of whom...” he clicked his fingers again.

Now they were in the Gallagher house. The house was decorated with old decorations and lights. It looked a lot less smart than Mandy’s place but was warm and welcoming. A huge table was laid with bits of tinsel and old broken decorations giving it a festive air, and Fiona and Debbie were in the kitchen trying to get it all together. 

“Ian!” shouted Fiona  
“Yeah?”  
“You sure Mickey’s not coming?”  
Mickey was surprised to hear his name mentioned.

Ian walked into the kitchen and Mickey’s heart did a little flip the way it always did when Ian was near.   
“His phone’s off, Fiona. I think this Terry thing has hit him hard, and Mandy leaving so fast as well. He’s stuck in that house with the Milkovich family ”  
“Poor bugger” said Fiona. “Ok well there’s a place for him if he does come.”  
“Thanks.”  
Mickey started at ghost-Ian “A place for me? From Fiona?”  
“Yes.” Said the spirit. “The Gallaghers look after their own.”  
“But I’m not....”  
“Aren’t you? Have you already forgotten what you’ve seen and heard?” The Ian ghost clicked his fingers once more and they were back in Mickey’s room.

“One more. That’s ones gonna be hard but remember the future isn’t set in stone.” And with that he left.  
Mickey was exhausted. He lay on his bed and closed his eyes.


	4. Stave IV - The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (but only maybe)

He was being prodded by a baton. He opened his eyes and saw Tony Markovich there.  
“Get up Milkovich. We’ve got a lot to see.”

“All right.” Mickey stood up and Tony held his hand out. Mickey didn’t even make a smart comment just took it.

The shimmer took them to prison. The prison was decorated with a few hand made decorations that the prisoners had made in their craft sessions. He could see two of his brothers in orange jumpsuits kicking the crap out of someone. They had found tinsel and had tied the poor man’s hands with it while calling him the Christmas fairy. His other two brothers jumped in trying to pull them off and eventually the guards separated them all. Mickey looked down at the bloodied mess on the floor. It was him. He drew in his breath.

Tony said “Let’s see what’s going on outside." He clicked his fingers.

They were in the Gallagher street. Ian was there and he was talking to an attractive young man. Mickey felt the jealousy rise up like bile to his throat. Ian was laughing and playing with his hair. Ian was interested in this pretty boy.

“Their first meeting.” Said the spirit.  
Mickey turned to Tony in pain “I don’t want to see it.”

“Let’s go forward a while.” He clicked his fingers and they were in the Gallagher house. Mickey watched Ian pour his meds down the toilet. He heard a voice he didn’t recognise call Ian and went downstairs to see the pretty boy there. 

“Why isn’t he taking his meds?”  
Tony shrugged. “There isn’t anyone around who has the time to care”  
“But” Mickey hated saying it “the boyfriend”  
“Missed it completely.”  
Mickey watched Ian bound down the stairs. He recognised the signs. Ian was having a manic episode. 

Tony said “Time to move on.” And Mickey took his hand. They were in a church and Ian was arguing with the minister. Then Ian was hiding and the boyfriend came. They fought and he left Ian alone in this dark basement. Once he was alone, Ian pulled out the note from Mandy, telling him that Mickey had died in prison on Christmas Eve. He pulled his knees up to his chest, put his head on his knees and began to cry, clutching the note and the attached photograph of the two of them together.

Mickey fell to his knees by Ian and tried in vain to put his arms around him, shouting “Ian! I’m here! I’m right here!

The scene faded and Mickey found himself in his own bed clutching the pillow. He curled up, still holding the pillow close and cried himself to sleep.


	5. Stave V - A Happy Ending

The light coming through the window woke Mickey. He could hear voices from the living room.  
Mickey took a shower. Then he packed a bag, and walked into the living room. All his brothers were there. Mickey cleared his throat and addressed them all “I want out. Give me my share and then you can carry on without me.”

Jamie stood up. “What are you talking about faggot?“  
And suddenly Iggy and Colin were beside him. “Hey if he gets out, there’s more per share for us right?”  
Jamie considered this. “Alright. He went to their money stash and took out some notes. “Here you go. A grand. Now fuck off”  
Mickey knew his share was more like 1500 but he said thanks and walked out the house. 

He arrived at the Gallagher house 10 minutes later. He stood outside for 5 minutes walking back and forth before striding up to the front door and knocking.  
Debbie answered. He looked at her and smiled.  
“Hi Debbie. Is um Ian around.”  
“Yeah he’s in the kitchen.”  
She opened the door for him and Mickey came in. As he walked in he stopped and said “Debbie, thank you for saying what you did back when you came to try and get Ian’s drugs. It was brave and I needed it.”   
She stared at him. “Okay...”  
He kissed her cheek. “Merry Christmas Debs”  
She smiled.  
“Merry Christmas, Mickey.”  
He dropped his bag in the living room and walked into the kitchen.

Ian was stood drinking coffee with Lip and Fiona. He turned when he heard the voices and put his cup down. Mickey summoned up all his courage, swallowed and walked right over to him and took Ian’s face in his hands.  
“Ian. I’m sorry. About everything. I love you and if you’ll have me, I’d love to come for Christmas.” Then Mickey up and kissed Ian right then, in the kitchen right in front of a pile of the Gallaghers. Ian smiled at him. “Good. We’d laid you a place.”  
Fiona looked at him. “Your family all right with you not being there?”  
“Yeah. I mean they don’t celebrate and I decided I can do without any more Milkovich family fun.”  
Fiona wasn't an idiot. She knew how the Milkovich brothers treated Mickey.   
“You need a place to stay, Mick?  
Mickey looked up into Fiona’s eyes and saw the sympathy there. But it didn’t make him mad. It made him feel warm. He thought “This is what family should be.”  
“Yes please Fiona.” Mickey remembered something. He went over to his backpack and took out $500. He came back and handed it to Fiona. “For the squirrels. Merry Christmas Fiona”  
She laughed. “You don’t have to pay. You're Ian’s friend.“  
“Yeah Fiona, I do.”  
“And he’s my boyfriend” interjected Ian. Mickey blushed at that but didn’t contradict him.  
“Then thank you.” She put the money in the tin.

Ian poured him a cup of coffee, dropped a kiss on his head and they sat companionably peeling potatoes. Then Mickey remembered one more thing. He took out his phone and took a selfie of him and Ian at work. Then he sent it to Mandy with the following

_The Gallaghers have put me to work and I’ve never been happier. Happy Christmas Mandy. Love you._

He got a reply

_About bloody time. Happy Christmas assface. I love you too._


End file.
